Hub cap



Patented Feb' 26 1935 1,992.7f5ef11 UNITED STATES PATENT oFI-lcE-jl HUB CAP Charles H. Nehls, Detroit, Mich., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Eaton Detroit Metal gmlixxinpany, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Application June 6, 1932, Serial No. 615,516

4 Claims. (Cl. 301-108) This invention relates to hub caps, and particu- (not shown) for rotating said barrel. The pin 9 larly to hub caps for motor vehicle wheels. contacts the inner margin of the opening 6 when An object of the invention is to equip a hub cap the bolt 5 is projected, and on rotation of the with a lock for securing said cap to a wheel hub barrel 10, the thrust f Said pin against 'Said and to so form said cap and position said lock margin retracts the bolt. 5

thereon, as to aiord clearance to the axle on At One 0r mOre pOntS remote from the dewhich the wheel is mounted, scribed lock, the face lb of the cap carries one Another object of the invention is to equip a. or more outwardly projecting teeth 11.v Spaeed hub cap with a simple and inexpensive lock, safefrom the Shoulder 2, Similarly t0 Said `D0lt AS 10 guarding the cap against accidental detachment illustrated, one of said teeth radially registers i0 or unauthorized removal, with each rib 3. The ribs 3 have enlargements A further object is te apply Suche leek adjacent 11a adjacent t0 the hub cap rim for rotationallv to the periphery of a hub cap, so that the bolt eounterbalancing the lock mechanism. of the lock may engage the flange of the hub. In applying the described hub Cap t0 a Wheel 15 A still further object is to provide said cap with.y hub 12, the Cap iS initially inserted in the hllb in i5 means adjacent to its periphery for rotationaiiy the tilted position indicated in dash lines in Fig. counterbaieneing the weight of said lock. 1, the ange 13 marginal to the hub opening en- These and various other objects the invention gaging between the Shoulder 2 and lugs 11- The attains by the construction hereinafter described, Cap iS then tilted inte Complete engagement With and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the hub aS ShOWn in full lines in Fig- 2, the Outer 20 wherein; portion of the lock bolt being beveled to permit Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional View of the imthe hub lange 13 t0 autematieally retract the proved hub cap, showing the same in locked enbelt during Such tilting. 1

gagement with the wheel hub, It is to be noted that the lock barrel 10 may Fig. 2 is a, view 0f the hub-engaging face be of either a key-operable or permutation type. 25 thereof. The described hub cap may be very quickly Fig. 3 is a. sectional detan of the 100k meeheand easily attached or removed, but its removal nism, taken upon the iine 3 3 of Fig 1 requires a key tting the described lock or manip- In these views, the reference character l desiglation 0f the latter aCeOldingtO a predetermined nates a hub cap, illustrated as a casting, but not Combinatien Of numeralS 30 necessarily so formed. Said cap has an approxi- It iS an impOrtant advantage 0f the described mate @up shape, minimizing its weight, and its construction that the lock is fully counterbalanced peripheral face is formed with an annular shoulby the preieetiOnS 1l and enlargements 11a, S0 der 2, separating the front portion la of said face aS not t0 interfere With SInOeth 10tati0n 0f the from a lesser diameter rear portion thereof. It Wheel, ner tend tOWard uneven Weal- 35 is preferred to reinforce the hub cap in its cast It iS alSO advantageous that the deSCribed Cap form by interior ribs 3, diverging from one point may be applied in any IOtative pOSitiOn, and of the cap rim to relatively remote points theregrips the hub under suiiicient friction to maintain of, as clearly appears in Fig. 2. Formed integrally Such pOStiOn Under nei-mal StreSSeS, While yieldwith said cap, in interior proximity to its rim, able retatvely Under any blew, having a Cir- 40 is a lock casing 4, positioned preferably at the elllnferential COInpOnent, Such aS Inighthe apjuncture of the ribs 3. Said casing receives a plied in an attempt t0 destroy the lock. i radial bolt 5 having an end portion outwardly It isimportant to note that the above mentione projecting through the peripheral face 1b, and construction has been designed for application spaced slightly from the shoulder 2. Said bolt, to both spare wheels and running wheels, and in 45 which is preferably a sheet-metal stamping, has order to accommodate the latter wheels of modan approximately central opening 6 in which is ern design, it has been so constructed as to prodisposed a coiled spring 7, urging the bolt outvide a minimum outward extension of the wheel wardly. The inner end of said spring seats upon hub shell 12 to thus minimize possibility ofthe shoulders 8 formed in the casing 4 at front hub cap striking against objects during the op- 50 and back of the bolt 5. The bolt opening 6 exeration of the vehicle of which it forms a part. tends inwardly beyond said shoulders to receive Particularly in view of the fact that in modern a pin 9 terminally and eccentrically carried by a wheels of the type shown the wheel axleorspinlock barrel 10, containing any suitablev and welldie 15, as the case may be, depending upon known arrangement of key-actuable tumblers whether it is a driving wheel or not, may extend 55 to and even beyond the outer edge of the shell l2, and where the wheel is not a driving wheel the hub 16 may be provided with a grease sealing cap 17 enclosing the outer end of the axle 15 and the securing nut 18 and projecting outwardly beyond the end of the axle 15, the problem of preventing an excessive outward projecting of the hub cap beyond the outer end of the hub shell offers certaindifllculties of attainment that have heretofore not been met. A

It will be observed that these problems have been met in the construction described by positioning the lock casing 4 and the lock barrel 10 carried by it radially-between the shaft 15, hub 16 and/or cap 17, and the inner edge of the ange 13, thus permitting the casing 4 and barrel 10 to project axially inwardly of the outer ends of these parts in spite of the fact that they may project axially outwardly beyond the end of the hub shell 12. Although this feature renders the casing 4 and lock barrel 10 an eccentric mass which would cause hopping of the associated wheel when running at high speeds, the possibility of such an undesirable effect is eliminated by the provisionv of the counterbalances 11a.

'I'he reinforcing ribs 3, in order to enable achievement of the advantages above set forth, are curved' in the manner shown so as not to interfere with the proper reception of the axle 15, hub 16 and/or cover 17 as the case may be in the hub cap, and it will be observed in the particular construction shown that the counter weights lla are formed as a part of the ribs 3, thereby reinforcing the same and enabling less metal to be used in the whole structure, and additionally the ribs 3 and counter-Weights are formed as extensions of the teethor lugs 11, or the teeth or lugs 11 as extensions ofv them, and therebyserve to reinforce them in a material and efficient manner.

while a is apparent that the'iuustrated embodiment of my `invention is well calculated tol adequately fulfill the objects and advantages primarily stated, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to and change within the spirit and scopefof the subjoined claims. f

What I claim is: y

1. In combination, a rotatable wheel hub shell having' an open end, an inturned flange portion on said shell defining said opening, a wheel axle positioned centrally of said shell and terminally projecting axially approximately into the plane of the inner margins of said flange, a cover for said opening, rigid means fixed to said one side thereof and arranged for interlocking engagement withl said flange to lock the adjacent portion of said cover against axialdisengagement with respect to saidflange, a lock barrel mounted on the diametrically opposite side of said cover from said means and projecting inwardly from the outer face thereof to a point axially inwardly beyond the end of said axle, a bolt carried by said cover in position to engage said flange and operable through said barrel to releasably lock said opposite side of vsaid cover against axial displacement with respect to said flange, and means carried by said cover for counterbalancing the off center weight of said locking means during rotation of' said shell and cover.

2. In combination, a rotatable wheel hub shell having an open end, an inturned flange portion on variation, modification o cover at said shell defining sai-d opening, awheel axle positioned centrally ofsaid shell and terminally projecting axially'app'roximately into the plane of the inner margins of said flange, a covei` for-said opening, rigid vmeans fixed to said cover 4at' :one

side thereof and arranged for interlocking`enthe adjacent gagement with said flange to lock portion of said cover against axial disengagement with respect to said y the inner face of said cover at that edge thereof diametrically opposite said means and extending axially inwardly of said shell between said-shellY and axle, a lock barrel housed within saidzpro-J/ on said shell defining said opening, a wheelaxle positioned centrally of said shell and terminally projecting axially approximately into the' plane of the inner margins-of said flange, a cover for said opening, rigid means ilxed vto said cover at one side `thereof and arranged for interlocking engagement with said flange to lock the adjacent portion of said cover against axial disengagement with respect to said flange, a protuberance on the inner face of said cover at the edge thereof diametrically opposite said meansand extending axially inwardly of said shell between said shell and axle, a lock barrel mounted on the diametrically opposite side of said cover from said means and projecting inwardly from the outer face thereof to a yond the end of said axle, a bolt carried by said cover in position to engage said flange and operable through said barrel to `releasably lock said opposite sideof said cover against axial displacement with respectrto said flange, and means carried by said cover for counterbalancing the .off

center weight of said locking means duringrotation of said shell and cover, the last mentioned means projecting into the space radially between said shell and axle.

4. A hub cap adapted to be secured to` the yin flange, a protuberance on' point axially inwardly beturned end flange portion of av wheel hub shell comprising a body portion,l rigid means fixed to y said body portion 'at one side thereof and arranged for interlocking engagement with'said hub flange to lock the adjacent part of said body portion against axial displacement with respectto said flange, a lock barrel mounted on the di-` ametrically opposite side of said body portion from said means and projecting inwardly from the outer face thereof, a bolt carried by said body portion in position to engage said hub flange and operable through said barrel to releasably lock said opposite side of the body portion against axial displacement with respect to said flange, and means carried by said body portion for counterbalancing the off-center weight of said locking meansgduring rotation of said hub shell and body portion. y l

v CHARLES H. NEHLS. 

